Intervention
My wife, Jess, has started watching a show titled "Intervention." I watch it with her from time to time. For those who haven't seen it, each episode follows an addict as their family conducts an intervention on (against? for?) them.
It's an hour long. You get a brief overview of what the addict's life is like; how it's affecting them and the people in their lives. Then there's the bit where the family and friends are in with the counselor on the day before the intervention. Then comes the intervention scene, with lots of tears and such. Finally, there's some kind of summation at the end. You get to find out what happened to the addict. All in all, it's not the most exciting of shows. But it does give a very real look into the lives of addicts and the people around them.
Watching that show got me to thinking about my experiences with addiction. When I was younger, I dealth with them. It's part of why I'm behind the learning curve now. If I'd paid attention then, instead of spending my time partying, I'd have accomplished a lot more.
Worse than what I did to myself, is how it affected those around me. Sure, in a lot of ways, I got out of it, before things really went poorly. Still, there were a lot of stupid things I did as the result of my drinking. I made decisions which still affect me to this day. I cheated on my (now) ex-wife. I bailed out of a couple (semi) decent jobs. The list goes on and on.
And, I think that's where I'm going with this. While I managed to stop, there was no way to repair the damages done as a result of my addictions. What was done, was done. None of it can be undone. Many people are still living with the affects of my addiction.
And that's the really sad part of it. The latest episode of "Intervention" we watched covered an entire town's battle with meth addictions. How families were ripped apart by it. How people lost (are losing) everything to feed their addiction. And that's the shame of it all. In the end, the insidious disease known as addiction only does one thing: it destroyes lives. And, it doesn't matter how much you fight it, it will always be there. It will always try to find a way to get its hold on you, with the sole intent of destroying you, and those around you.
It's an hour long. You get a brief overview of what the addict's life is like; how it's affecting them and the people in their lives. Then there's the bit where the family and friends are in with the counselor on the day before the intervention. Then comes the intervention scene, with lots of tears and such. Finally, there's some kind of summation at the end. You get to find out what happened to the addict. All in all, it's not the most exciting of shows. But it does give a very real look into the lives of addicts and the people around them.
Watching that show got me to thinking about my experiences with addiction. When I was younger, I dealth with them. It's part of why I'm behind the learning curve now. If I'd paid attention then, instead of spending my time partying, I'd have accomplished a lot more.
Worse than what I did to myself, is how it affected those around me. Sure, in a lot of ways, I got out of it, before things really went poorly. Still, there were a lot of stupid things I did as the result of my drinking. I made decisions which still affect me to this day. I cheated on my (now) ex-wife. I bailed out of a couple (semi) decent jobs. The list goes on and on.
And, I think that's where I'm going with this. While I managed to stop, there was no way to repair the damages done as a result of my addictions. What was done, was done. None of it can be undone. Many people are still living with the affects of my addiction.
And that's the really sad part of it. The latest episode of "Intervention" we watched covered an entire town's battle with meth addictions. How families were ripped apart by it. How people lost (are losing) everything to feed their addiction. And that's the shame of it all. In the end, the insidious disease known as addiction only does one thing: it destroyes lives. And, it doesn't matter how much you fight it, it will always be there. It will always try to find a way to get its hold on you, with the sole intent of destroying you, and those around you.
Labels: addictions, intervention, life
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